


i want to listen

by Nerd_of_Camelot



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Impromptu vent session, Kai tells Lloyd his side of the Possession incident, Lloyd Garmadon is a Good Friend, Lloyd does NOT want to talk about it but he'll listen, Other, Post-Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21964627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_of_Camelot/pseuds/Nerd_of_Camelot
Summary: Lloyd doesn't want to talk about what happened with Morro.But if it'll help his friends move on, he'll listen to them talk about it.
Relationships: Lloyd Garmadon & Kai
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58





	i want to listen

No one asked Lloyd how he felt after everything was said and done.

No one asked him if he was alright. No one ever asked if he needed a hug, or if he needed to talk.

Really, after the brief talk they all had following the Preeminent’s drowning and Morro’s destruction, it was like everyone instantly forgot any of it had ever happened. It was like being possessed for so long had just been a figment of his imagination. Like Morro nearly killing his friends wasn’t real. Like the Preeminent hadn’t come very,  _ very _ close to destroying Stixx. Everyone ignored it all.

They didn’t talk about the possession. They didn’t talk about how completely terrified Lloyd had been. They didn’t talk about any of it. They just let the matter lie and Lloyd was only about halfway thankful for that.

He was thankful that they didn’t bombard him with questions about how he felt, what it was like to be possessed. He was thankful that they weren’t coddling him. But he wasn’t thankful for the way that they smoothly steered the conversation away from Morro and the Preeminent any time Lloyd so much as made vague reference to them. He wasn’t thankful for the poorly hidden sympathetic glances he constantly got from the others when they thought he wouldn’t notice. And he especially wasn’t thankful for the fact that he had no one to talk to about that absolute dumpster fire even if he wanted to.

He  _ didn’t _ want to, of course, but it would have been nice to know someone would listen on the off chance that he did. Even  _ Zane _ changed the subject when conversation got around to Morro, though. Even Zane, who would typically listen to everything he had to complain about, wouldn’t let him talk about Morro.

And it was a little annoying, if not somewhat concerning.

It was cool, though. He didn’t want to talk about it anyway.

Honestly, he would prefer to bury the whole incident. Maybe the others felt the same? But the fact was that they couldn’t just ignore the whole thing. It had happened. He’d been possessed and the Preeminent had nearly destroyed Stixx and the rest of the world. He’d lost his father for good.

This was among the worst things to happen to him in his entire life. Top ten, at least. Maybe even the top five. He wasn’t sure. He just knew he was hesitant to place the whole incident as the _worst_ thing to happen to him for a variety of reasons. First, he’d feel weak if he admitted that Morro’s possession had been _that_ bad for him. Second, arguably, the actual possession wasn’t that bad. Most of the issue lied in it being without his consent. Oh, and in Morro trying to _kill his friends while wearing his skin._ That was messed up. And third? It was _really_ hard to definitively say that this was _actually_ _worse_ than being literally _tortured_ for his power and forced to watch one of his friends die.

It was definitely up there, don’t get him wrong, but he’d have a hard time pegging it any higher than the top three.

Not that he actually thought about it often enough to have given it a definite place on the list of terrible things that had happened to him, that was. Really, he avoided the subject when he could. Even just thinking about it long enough to classify it was… Unpleasant. Brought up things he didn’t want to deal with. So he’d push those things down and keep moving. Keep not talking and keep trying not to think.

The others appeared to be doing the same.

Until one day Kai let slip something about Morro. Something about an illusion of him in the place that had turned Cole into a ghost.

He clamped his mouth shut almost immediately. Tried to pretend he hadn’t said anything. But Lloyd had heard, and he knew that.

Lloyd turned to him quietly, cocking his head to the side slightly. Kai looked tense, jaw clenched and form trembling if only slightly. Lloyd knew that look. He understood. This had effected Kai and his friends just as much as it had effected him. They were all in the same boat here.

Which meant Kai likely didn’t want to get into this today.

“I won’t ask,” Lloyd finally said, “Because I can tell you don’t want me to.”

“Thank you,” Kai sighed, shoulders slumping and eyes closing.

“But,” Kai’s eyes shot open again as Lloyd began, looking alarmed, “If you ever want to talk about it… You can talk to me.”

Kai didn’t speak. He just stared at him, brows furrowed. Lloyd looked away when the staring became uncomfortable.

“Don’t get it twisted,” He finally told Kai, “I don’t want to talk about this either. But if you want to talk and you think it will help you, I want to listen.”

There was a long silence. He tried not to squirm.

“Okay.” Kai eventually murmured. “And if… I wanted to talk right now?”

“Right now works for me,” Lloyd replied.

“Okay,” Kai said again. Another silence. Finally the Master of Fire took a deep breath and he began to talk. He told Lloyd all about their side of the story from the moment their powers had disappeared up to Morro finally releasing Lloyd from his control after he got the Realm Crystal. He expressed on more than one occasion being very afraid of Morro. Lloyd could relate. He’d had the guy in his head - he knew better than his friends just how much Morro was not someone you wanted to contest.

Especially since he’d had to fight him  _ mentally _ and see every little malicious thought he had, and they’d only had to deal with what he presented outwardly. What he could coerce Lloyd’s body into doing.

Lloyd got it all in full-force, and the Morro they’d met had been severely watered down because Lloyd’s body wasn’t used to controlling the other elements. He could do it, sure, but he usually stuck with his own, and with Morro he’d suddenly gotten a crash course with the use of the wind.

He didn’t mention any of this to Kai, however. He just listened.

“I… Have I told you how glad I am that you’re safe now?” Kai finally said, voice cracking somewhat.

Lloyd shook his head, choosing to stay quiet as Kai started to nod immediately.

“I didn’t think I had.” Kai admitted, “But I want you to know that I missed you so,  _ so _ much during that whole mess and I have never been more relieved than I was when we finally got you back.” He paused a took a breath, “I know that you’re probably still suffering.” He said, “And I know you don’t want to talk about it. But as long as you’re here, and you’re safe, and he can’t touch you anymore, that’s good enough for me.”

Lloyd was… He didn’t know how to articulate the way that made him feel. So he didn’t try to word it. He just closed the two or three feet of distance between them and pulled Kai into a tight hug. It said more than he could possibly hope to on this subject, he thought.

Kai didn’t hug back immediately. For a second he froze. He froze and then, slowly, he relaxed. His arms lifted and wrapped hesitantly around Lloyd in return. After a moment his grip tightened. He took a deep breath, and the exhale was shaky. Neither spoke. They simply stood there, embracing one another, for a long time. Kai’s shaky breath gradually evened out. Lloyd felt progressively more at ease, although he really hadn’t noticed how tense and anxious he’d felt before.

He supposed that was just what happened when you were more focused on someone else’s feelings than your own.

When they finally pulled back from each other, Lloyd offered Kai a smile, and Kai returned it.

“Did talking about it help?” Lloyd asked, genuinely curious, although Kai might interpret it as him asking for the sake of determining if he wanted to talk about his own experiences. It didn’t matter. Either way Kai would likely give the same answer.

Kai seemed to think about it for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah, it did.”

Lloyd nodded, more to himself than to Kai, and said, “I’m glad.”

“Did hearing about it bother you?” Kai asked in return.

He considered the question before shaking his head. “No. It didn’t bother me.” He lied, “I was more focused on how you felt, anyway.”

Kai frowned only ever so slightly. But if he caught the lie, he didn’t comment on it. “If you ever need to talk about it, you know I’ll listen, right?”

“That’s… Sweet, Kai.” Lloyd said, uncomfortable at the very thought of actually conversing about what he’d gone through. “But I’m not sure I’ll ever want to open that particular can of worms.”

Kai just nodded.

They didn’t talk about it again.

Lloyd was grateful.


End file.
